Waging A War of Angels
by Raine Ito
Summary: As Rinoa comes into full realization of what her powers are a sorceress, she becomes desperate, and takes drastic action. But what about Squall?


(slightly odd story, I know, but I like it!)

"Are you alright? You aren't yourself lately," commented Squall, squeezing into a seat across from Rinoa in the cafeteria. _If only he knew, _she thought, _how right he was. _"Oh, I'm fine, really. Just a little tired, stayed up all last night helping Selphie take down the decorations in the ballroom." Squall looked unconvinced. "Really, I'm fine," she said, smiling weakly. He shrugged, still looking a little concerned. "Alright. I have to go and check on the crew that's about to head out to Trabia." She nodded. "I'll talk to you later."

When he was gone, she stood up, and left the cafeteria, going to the library. She had to relieve her mind of the raging sea of thoughts that kept pushing relentlessly at the back of it. She knew perfectly well what was wrong…but if she told anyone how worried she really was, people might start to distrust her, to have second thoughts about the things they'd said. "Of course you can stay at the garden!" Cid had sounded so firmly convinced the day he'd said that. "You're always welcome here!" But Rinoa still feared that there was more to her than even she knew.

She entered the library, and walked around to the back, where she found the history section. It didn't take long to find a whole shelf dedicated to the topic she was so interested in. She grabbed four of them, and settled herself down in a chair for a long afternoon of reading. Then she opened the first book, with the title, "The Sorceress Wars-Horrors and Tragedies."

****************

Hours later, Rinoa was still sitting, but she was no longer reading. A huge stack of volumes had piled up next to her on the table, and her face had gone pale as snow. "I'm…a monster," she whispered to herself. "I'm a sorceress witch!" She buried her face in her hands, thinking about all the things Adel and Edea had done, all the people Adel had killed just by waving her hand, the people who'd died screaming at the very glance of a sorceress. "I have the power to destroy…everyone," she whispered in horror.

Standing up slowly, she walked out of the library, as if in a dream. She didn't know where she was going, or what she would do. She suddenly picked up speed and started running, running as fast as she could, bursting through a door she didn't know, and slamming directly into the colossal leg of a T-Rexaur. She fell onto her back, grabbing for her weapon, but she wasn't fast enough. The monster bore down on her, it's jaws open for the final blow.

Just as she was sure she was going to die, a great white light began to glow softly from her, suddenly bursting out and almost blinding her with its radiance. She cringed away from it, as it continued to grow stronger, and a huge deep boom echoed around the entire area. She stayed huddled in a ball, waiting for the death to come, but when it didn't, she opened her eyes…and watched in horror as the monster simply…disintegrated into a heap of mush at her feet.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "I'm…a walking weapon…"

****************

Rinoa didn't even try to sleep that night. There wasn't any point. She sat in her room until midnight, resisting the urge to cry or scream, or run somewhere again. She knew perfectly well what she had to do. "I can't stay here," she whispered to herself. "I could destroy everything." She swallowed hard, and grabbed a book off her desk, leafing through it quickly. "Wind magic," she continued to whisper. "Some sorceresses are weak against wind magic…"

Without another word, she stood up, and walked over to the side of the room. She closed her eyes and raised her hands, biting her lip as she took a deep breath. _Squall…_she thought hopelessly, hanging her head, and wishing she could speak to him one last time, imagined the look on his face when he heard she had died. _I wish it could've been different…I love you, that's why I have to do this, Squall…I never want to hurt you…I'm not in control…There are other sorceresses…I could be possessed, at any time, even if Ultimecia isn't a threat anymore. I don't want to be a weapon…don't you see? It's better this way…_she cringed, and then, with a final nod to the inevitable, she cast the tornado spell intended to end her life, the life that she knew to be so threatening to others.

But even as a cold chill washed over her, it was countered by that blinding white light, shooting out of her from all sides, and causing her to crumple to her feet, crying out in the pain of the heat that it brought along with the relief from the cold. When it was over, she looked around, and found that she was still lying on the floor, her heart beating, and the tornado magic washed away by her own dark protection. She stared up to the sky and cried, "_Why can't I die??"_

_ _

Throwing herself down onto the bed, Rinoa tried to sleep, but she couldn't get Squall's face out of her mind, and Selphie's, and Irvine and Quistis, Zell, Cid, Edea, Nida, Ellone, everyone she knew and loved. She pictured them just melting away, like the T-Rexaur in the training center, and screaming in pain, while someone laughed, shrill and high and painful out of Rinoa's mouth, and she knew the laugh was not her own. Letting out a long pained sob, she fell into fitful, tortured slumber, haunted by dreams of Squall disappearing before her eyes.

But by the next morning, she'd made up her mind. It was all too clear now how she had to go about it, and that she had to be done with it soon, before she got too afraid. She would end it, here and now. So she dug around in her closet for a few minutes, and then headed out to the quad.

****************

Squall was in a great deal of confusion. Pressured greatly by Quistis and Selphie, he'd gone and bought Rinoa a considerable sized bouquet of roses, and when he'd tried to go back to his room, Irvine had been waiting to shove him out the door and on his way. So he had nothing else to do but to go and deliver his gift to Rinoa. But no one seemed to know where she was. 

It was odd, he thought, as he ran to the infirmary, to see if perhaps she'd gotten hurt. It was very odd, because Rinoa always seemed to spread such sunshine where she went, that all the people who she passed and talked to remembered very well the pretty girl who'd stopped to chat, and could usually easily point him in her direction. But today, she didn't seem to have talked to anyone at all. No one had even remembered seeing her, and it bothered him. Rinoa didn't keep to herself by nature. 

As he approached the infirmary, he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Whirling around, he saw Rinoa's foot disappearing into the quad. "Rinoa!" He called out, smiling, but she didn't answer. He walked quickly in that direction, wondering if perhaps she hadn't heard him. He entered the quad, and jogged down the steps, seeing her standing in the middle of the room. "Rinoa!" He called out again, but again she didn't seem to hear him. Then, as he watched, amazed, she leaned back, arching her back farther and farther until her head almost touched her toes, which were floating some inches above the ground. Too shocked to speak or move, he watched, as she uncurled, and floated upward, spinning gently.

As he watched, a dim fuzzy glow spiraled around her, suddenly shaping itself into two huge white wings, which spread out from her back. They opened slowly, engulfing the entire room in an eerie light, so that Squall couldn't see. Snapping out of his stupor, he ran forward, so that he stood beneath her, still blinded. On an impulse, he drew his Lionheart, and swiped it through the air. The magic light sliced open, and pieces of it began falling away, like snow. Only then could he look up. Rinoa had something clutched to her chest. As she spun towards him, he saw what it was. A dagger glinted in the falling shards of light, and she swiftly raised it, spearing a piece of the light on it, and aiming towards her heart. Suddenly, it was as if time stood still for Squall.

He remembered the day they'd first met, when he'd helped try and liberate Timber. He remembered how she'd come back to save them that time in the desert prison, and he remembered rescuing her from falling off Balamb Garden. He remembered how she smiled, how her hair blew in the wind, the way her laugh sparkled and the way her arms felt when she embraced him, the way her lips felt on his, and the way his heart felt every time she was near him. He felt like he was falling, falling through a black abyss and the only thing he could see was Rinoa's face.

"RINOA!" he screamed, slashing at the air with his sword, in vain. "RINOA! RINOA, STOP, PLEASE, RINOA, I LOVE YOU!" And then everything was thrown into blackness. The light was gone, the white feathered wings were gone, and the dagger clattered at his feet. Rinoa was falling, falling into his outstretched arms as she had once before, and he caught her, held her to him and ran his fingers through her hair, tears running down his face as she embraced her, determined to never ever let her go, to never let her leave him again. Never.

"You tried…to leave me…" he whispered hoarsely. "Squall," she whispered, and he heard the tears in her voice. He wiped them away with his sleeve, as she looked beseechingly into his eyes. "I have to! I could kill everyone! You should never have rescued me that day! I'm dangerous, I'm-!" He stopped her with a kiss. "Rinoa," he whispered fiercely. "I don't care. I don't care about anything. I love you. I love you so much. I'd kill for you, I'd die for you, I'd forsake everything for you, don't you ever leave me!"

And as she rested her head on his shoulder and sobbed, she knew she never could.


End file.
